Nobody can deny that personal electronic devices like cell phones offer a lot of advantages to people; however, if used at the wrong place and at the wrong time, those benefits are easily thrown out of the window.
Day in and day out, California citizens hear or read news articles about the dangers of using cell phone irresponsibly. One of the reasons why negligent use of electronic devices is dangerous is: distracted driving. In fact, according to studies, thousands of people are killed due to distracted driving in the United States. Many people think that distracted driving only concerns motor vehicle drivers; however, in reality, train operators are also at risk of such negligent act.
In 2008, a Metrolink commuter train collided with a freight train in Chatsworth because of cell phone use. According to news reports, texting was the cause of the accident that claimed the lives of 25 people and injured at least 130 passengers. Investigations had concluded that the Metronlink’s on-board engineer was using his cell phone prior to the collision and resulted in ignoring of at least one stop signal and failing to apply brakes when the train was about to collide with the other train.
Because of the horrific Chatsworth train accident, the California Public Utilities Commission has unanimously voted to ban the use of mobile phones of on-duty train operators and personnel. With the implementation of the new rule, California railroad transit personnel will be monitored by surveillance cameras to ensure that they are adhering with the law.
Aside from distracted train driving, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has also cited other common causes of railroad accidents in the State of California, these include:
Equipment failure – this involves broken or defective handbrake, defective on-boar knuckle, and broken train air hose.
Highway-Rail accidents – in California, many railroads share the road with highways, and there are times when accidents and collisions occur when the highway road user unknowingly disregard an approaching train.
Human error – in 2010, FRA recorded four deaths directly associated with human error. Common problem related to human errors are failure to follow fixed signals, failure to control train movement, impairment due to alcohol or drugs, and failure to comply with determined train speed limit.
Miscellaneous – other causes of train accidents in California include extreme weather condition, fire accidents, vandalism, power switch failure, and defective loading chains.
In order to avoid having more train accidents in California, train companies and their personnel should exhaust all the possible means to provide safe railways to passengers.
